And Thus the Huntsmen Fought There
by AnonymousInsomnia
Summary: With the 40th Vytal Festival coming up, Ozpin discovers a strange building within the Emerald Forest. It appears to be some sort of old doorway, containing nothing but shadow. He sends teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY to discover its purpose. Meanwhile, in another dimension, the JSDF prepares to invade the Special Region in retaliation for the Ginza Incident.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Bold is for Japanese, _Italics is for the Imperial Language,_** **and regular is English/Valic for RWBY characters.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Gate. Any resemblance or mention to existing properties is part of the fic, a reference, or just something that I thought would be cool to include.**

Chapter 1: A Portal to Another World

"A mission?"

Professor Ozpin, enigmatic Headmaster of Beacon Academy, one of the premier Hunstman Academies in all of Remnant, nodded in affirmation.

"That's right," he said, "We've just found something very... peculiar within the Emerald Forest, and we need someone to investigate the site. I would much prefer for it to be someone that I could keep an eye on, rather than, say, the Atlesian military, since as much as I trust General Ironwood as a friend and tactician, I'd rather have Beacon boots on the ground than someone who could hide valuable information."

Ozpin sat behind his desk with his hands folded in front of his face. The green-scarved, gray-haired huntsman patiently stared at three huntsmen-in-training sitting in as many ornate and expensive "office chairs". The three fidgeted around, no doubt wondering why the headmaster had called them up so early in the morning. In fact, while the three of them were sitting there, their respective teams of four were still in their dorms, no doubt dreaming and slumbering peacefully.

"So," Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, began, "You want us to take a look at something because we're the only ones you can trust right now."

Ozpin nodded, "You are correct, Ms. Rose, but it's not that you're the only ones I trust, it's just that you're the most convenient teams I have on hand that I can use."

"Are you absolutely sure that there's no one better for the job?" Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, asked, "After all, JNPR and RWBY are only first-year teams, and the whole Breach incident wasn't really our finest hour."

"I'm sure. All of our third and fourth year teams are going on missions right now, as are most of the second-years. We have little time, and must mobilize quickly. Besides," Ozpin spared a thoughtful glance towards Ruby and Jaune, "I'd say you handled the Breach just fine. It might've been a much bloodier battle with the Creatures of Grimm without you right at the epicenter."

"What was so important about the Emerald Forest that you had to message us on our scrolls to your office at this time of day, in our combat outfits, no less?" Coco Adel, leader of team CFVY, was definitely peeved at their headmaster. If this was his idea of a prank, she might have left his office right now. But she didn't.

The headmaster was certainly someone difficult to read, but she somehow got the feeling that he was being sincere when he told them that he required their services.

"I can't tell you a word about what's out there; it's on a need-to-know basis," Ozpin replied, "I need to know that you'll go through with it before I let you know any important details. However, I can tell you that I'll arrange for you to be rewarded quite well for your work."

The three leaders exchanged a look before Ruby spoke up.

"Unless I'm really bad at reading other people, I think we're all in."

Ozpin straightened up, stealthily removing his personal tablet-sized scroll from a drawer in his desk. "Excellent. Here's what we found."

The Huntsman placed the device on his desk, and a holographic display flickered to life in response. It displayed a three-dimensional representation of a clearing in the middle of the Emerald Forest. Ordinarily, it wouldn't warrant even a cursory glance, had it not been for the large, overt object planted directly in the centre of the model.

In all honesty, it had the appearance of some sort of ancient Mistralan temple. It was a fairly simple triangular roof held up by a few rows of pairs of ribbed stone pillars, intersected by three long, crystalline structures. The depths of the structure was incredibly dark. No light escaped from it, as if it was a black hole. The structure stood solitarily, surrounded by nothing in particular. Not even a single Grimm was in sight.

All three students leaned in to get a better look at the object.

"What is it, Headmaster Ozpin?" Ruby cautiously inquired, for fear of missing some sort of clue as to what the structure's true nature was.

Meanwhile, Ozpin merely stared back. The man with more knowledge and experience than any of them, who seemed to have all answers to everything, finally replied after a minute.

"That's what you're here for. We don't know."

* * *

"So... *yawn* that's why we're out here?" Yang Xiao Long, half-sister to Ruby Rose, drowsily asked, "So some random arse decided to build a random old-looking house in a random spot in the middle of the Emerald Forest. I don't exactly see what all the fuss is about."

"Headmaster Ozpin says that the structure wasn't there yesterday," Ruby answered, "So unless Ms. Goodwitch decided to go rouge and build stuff in the woods, then deliberately lost her memory to cover her tracks, the culprit obviously isn't anyone we know. I mean, who else do you know who can build buildings in the span of a day?"

"Plus he said that the building appeared much too old to be some pranksters that decided to mess with the most unmess-withable place in Vale," Jaune added.

"So why send the twelve of us on a Bullhead at 3 in the morning?"

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CVFY were currently all packed like sardines into the cramped VTOL, individually either sitting along the edge of the open doors, holding onto the overhead handholds, or trying not to be crushed by the presence of the other students. The drab, gray aircraft was piloted very competently; the ride was extraordinarily smooth, even for the likes of Jaune Arc (though to his credit, he had largely gotten over his motion sickness. After all, if your job's primary mode of transportation makes you sick, you lose your ailment or you lose your job). Among the students were pouches and bags of Dust, of varying sizes, types, and ammunitions. Jaune didn't really have much use for Dust as of now, so the poor guy was made into the group's human pack mule of surplus Dust.

Every student was decked out in their combat gear, eyes scanning the horizon and nerves almost ready for a full-on brawl. The Bullhead couldn't go far into the Emerald Forest, for fear of Grimm attacks, so it was to land the young adults as far as it could possibly go, then scram. The students would have to make the rest of the trip by themselves on foot.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pilot got on the Bullhead's intercom system and ordered them to jump out of the craft. With a little (Jaune) hesitation, they complied, and landed with their weapons drawn, expecting to be swarmed with Grimm.

They waited a minute. Then two. Then half a dozen. Then fifteen. No soulless creatures of destruction made themselves known. The students gave each other quizzical looks before effectively shrugging and moving on their way to the objective, not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth.

* * *

After a long, uneventful, Grimm-free hike, the twelve Beacon warriors reached their objective.

"God, that's huge," remarked Jaune. Indeed it was. The holographic projection truly didn't give the true magnitude of the structure. The building easily reached the top of the forest canopy, which was a feat not easily handed out. The Emerald Forest _was_ home to trees as tall as apartment buildings, after all.

"Whoa, Ren. Do you think they'll have giant monsters in there? Or! Or! Or! Or maybe there's a treasure chest _filled_ with gold about *this* high!" Nora Valkyrie, JNPR's resident jolly berserker, excitedly conversed with her _very bestest_ friend and total foil, Lie Ren.

"Nora, if there was a priceless treasure in there, you'd probably spend it all on pancakes and grenades," Lie Ren, JNPR's "ninja" of sorts, answered. The quiet boy knew that his childhood friend would probably go nuts and spend the entirety of the money that they would obtain from such a treasure chest in a week if Ren himself wasn't there to manage her hyperactivity and impulse buying.

"It really _does_ look a bit Mistralan, Jaune," Pyrrha Nikos, team JNPR's champion and typical voice of reason, along with Ren, said, "Which begs the question: What's it doing _here_ , in the outskirts of the Kingdom of Vale, in the middle of the Emerald Forest?"

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get in, get out, and be home in time for breakfast," Coco Adel replied. She was less than amused at all of this, but underneath her mask of annoyance, she waws definitely feeling just as anxious as the rest of them. Taking charge, she said, "We'll go in first. Ruby, you guys will come after us if we're not back within 30 minutes. If they're not back within their 30 minutes, JNPR will go and notify Ozpin about our disappearances. Hopefully he'll be able to send reinforcements, just in case."

"You got it!"

"Yeah, okay."

"Then let's move. Fox, you and Yatsuhashi are on point. Velvet and I will bring up the rear for support. Let's do this, guys."

The two pairs plunged into the darkness of the building, lighting up their scrolls so as to see, noting a lack of any visibility whatsoever, even with the meager amount of light. They inwardly gulped, attempting to strike down any fear they held in their hearts before pressing on.

* * *

The JSDF passed through the Gate with, as expected, very little strange effects. It was to be expected. After all, a fully functional, albeit horrendously outdated army did emerge from it to attack Japan in the middle of Ginza.

The "Special Region", as it was to be called, was an unknown, where any manner of man or creature could lay in wait for their highly mechanized task force. Their APCs, LAVs, and tanks could probably handle themselves just fine, but one never knew. It was night on the other side, and the soldiers quickly mobilized themselves with as little noise as possible, setting up basic machine gun nests, firing lines, and cover. They all sincerely hoped that they would not have to fight, but they knew it was probably inevitable, if the Special Region's inhabitants' actions were anything to go by.

Eventually, their fears were answered when firelights appeared in the distance. No doubt it was a defensive force prepared to repel the Japanese invaders. They marched on, unaware of the true might of the JSDF compared to their simple steel swords, spears and wooden shields. Their defenses and weaponry were made to fight bows and swords, not bullets and explosive shells.

Eventually, the JSDF reconnaissance teams determined just how far the enemy was from them, and gave their information to the officers over their radios. Eventually, they reached the distance at which the JSDF would deploy flares in order to reveal their aggressors, which would also hopefully drive them off, should they be a mere caravan, or something else peaceful.

The flares were shot into the air, basking the area with the harsh glow of white phosphorous. The enemy appeared to be another army, similar to the one that caused the Ginza Incident in both outfit and arms. Their positions were made obvious in the light, but the JSDF was nigh invisible to them, as their camouflage and strategic positioning made them impossible to see. Nevertheless, the enemy marched on, intent on fighting the new kids on the block.

They were almost halfway to the defenses when the order to fire was given.

The crackling rattle of Minimis, Type 64 battle rifles, M2 and M1919A4 Browning machine guns rang out through the hills as the approaching force was cut down, occasionally saturated with the loud, metallic pops and subsequent explosions of mortars and firing of tank shells. The native force was effortlessly and ruthlessly mowed down in a spray of lead and explosives, yet still pushed on, no doubt there being heavy consequences for deserters among their ranks. Through all the night, they attempted to push on, but could not gain any more ground than they had, as the JSDF was perched atop Alnus Hill, and the elevation spelt death for the enemy.

Finally, both groups were given a brief respite when the approaching army suddenly turned tail, allowing the JSDF to experience a brief ceasefire. However, they knew that they would have more battles in the very near future, and proceeded to reload their weapons and replenish themselves for the coming conflicts over the hill.

* * *

 **AN: Heya, it's me, AnonymousInsomnia, with a new FanFic. I know that you're probably waiting for my other story, Rose Falls, Oregon, to update, and rest assured, I will, but I'm waiting on my editor for that. He's kind of the bottleneck for this stuff.**

 **So this story will have to hold you over until then. That is, if you like this anime as well as RWBY. I like it though, and It's an idea I've been toying with for quite some time. Hopefully you like it, 'cause I'll be doing this one on the fly, without an editor.**

 **So yeah. Read, Review, Favorite, Follow, all that fun jazz. Until next time, peace out.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Stranded

 **AN: Bold is for Japanese, _Italics is for the Imperial Language,_** **and regular is English/Valic for RWBY characters.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Gate. Any resemblance or mention to existing properties is part of the fic, a reference, or just something that I thought would be cool to include.**

* * *

The fighting was seemingly endless.

Well, that is if you could call it fighting. The local military expected to fight an invading force that was well within their reasonable ability to combat, yet they were rapidly and mercilessly cut down by bullets, shells, artillery, and grenades. They were hopelessly outmatched compared to the JSDF's pure firepower, military might, and technological advancement. Not a single enemy soldier could possibly hope to manage to reach the base of the hill, much less storm it and drive the JSDF back through the Gate and make a reversal.

But if they were so weak compared to the green-camouflaged military, then why were they still fighting? Why send more and more troops to the front line, just to be slaughtered?

* * *

Location: Imperial Capital -

A single man stood in the center of a large, ornate room, surrounded by other men, facing a solitary, outwardly-bored figure. He stood upon a blood red circle, which was, in turn, surrounded by a simple triangular repeating clockwise arrow crest. From the circle sprouted many teal spokes, which connected with the audience, who sat in rows upon rows of bland beige stone chairs, listening in rapt attention to the speaker in the middle of the room.

He, as were almost all the people present, was dressed in official tunics, sashes, and. They all came in a wide variety of colours and materials, identifying what particular part of the Empire they belonged to, or rather what part of the Empire belonged to them. The man, Marquis Casel, wore quite a few layered robes and cloths over his tunic, causing him to appear in a broad spectrum of colour, with orange, regal purple, and a subdued teal being among the most prominent on his body.

These people were all a part of the Imperial Senate. They, together, were supposed to make the Empire's decisions through a democratic vote, but it really was no surprise that the Emperor himself, Emperor Molt, called the shots, at least indirectly.

" _It was an embarrassment, Your Majesty_ ," Casel stated, " _We lost more than 60% of the Imperial Army fighting over Alnus Hill. What should we do in response? Surely, we cannot stand back and let them_ _trounce us without some sort of punishment. How would you guide the state?_ "

" _Marquis Casel, think about how the people must feel,_ " replied Emperor Molt. The aged ruler of the Empire sat in a padded stone throne of marble, and dressed in a truly luxurious outfit. No doubt the Emperor himself would choose only the most expensive, most comfortable cloths for his personal wardrobe. Behind him hung the Imperial flag, a golden cross, adorned with dragon's wings, set upon a dark violet background. The monarch rested his head on his fist in a lazy pose, offering indifference to the gathered Senate. " _It's true that our most recent losses have cost us our military advantage. The people worry that the vassals of our state, as well as others, may revolt and attack the Capital itself._ " The king paused.

" _How pathetic._ " Casel let out a gasp, but said nothing. " _Every single time our empire is in danger, the Emperor, the Senate, and the people become as one to confront the danger, and bring about more progress. No war is won without loss. As such, I will hold no one responsible for our recent losses. To think that another nation dares surround the Imperial Capital..._ "

The man glanced at the floor and paused so as to add more weight to his next words.

" _I trust that none of you will waste time in a court._ "

The Senate started excitedly whispering and conversing among themselves, baring their teeth in ferocious grins, or otherwise showing their approval. However, Marquis Casel growled in annoyance.

" _To pass over all responsibility..._ " he muttered in disapproval.

" _But what do we do?_ " a voice spoke. A Senator approached the center, his age and naturally shrewd appearance giving him the impression of an old man. " _The army we sent was defeated in a mere two days. Now the Gate has been captured, and the enemy is trying to set up a base on this side. Of course, we attempted to retake the Hill, But the enemy in the distance... I've never seen such sorcery._ "

" _We've got to fight them!_ " another Senator shouted, this time a burly man with a clean-shaven head and armor. " _If we do not have enough men, we only need to recruit them from our tributaries. We'll attack the other side of the Gate once more!_ "

" _What good will brute force alone do?_ " asked another Senator, a young man with dirty blonde hair. " _It'll be another Godasen!_ "

The circular room was soon filled with shouts and cries, demanding for war, until Molt's hand was raised to silence them.

" _I do not wish to sit idly by,_ " he said, " _Therefore, we must fight. Send delegates to our tributaries and neighboring states. Ask for their help in defending the continent from these men from another world. We will lead the Allied Army of Godu Rino Gwaban in an attack on Arnus Hill._ " At these last words, he stood triumphantly, eliciting cheers from the gathered Senate.

Casel cautiously approached the throne. " _Your Majesty, it will be a bloodbath,_ " he said in a low tone. The king merely gave a smirk in reply.

Emperor Molt was about to adjourn the meeting when the doors of the Senate Building were flung open by a lanky messenger. He cried out to the king, who merely gave a sideways glance in his direction.

" _Your Majesty!_ " he breathlessly called out, " _The Forest Elves have urgent news to bring to you! They say that another Gate has opened somewhere in the Western Forests!_ "

" _Do not speak until I have addressed you, soldier!_ " the Emperor admonished.

" _I am sorry, Your Majesty._ "

" _You may speak._ "

The messenger gave a crisp salute before continuing, " _The Elves haven't been able to pinpoint the exact location yet, but they assured the local government that they'd detected another Gate with their magic!_ "

" _Ignore them. They are probably just trying to trick us. Gods know we've been a thorn in their side for a while. This is probably their attempt at distracting us from the real enemy. You are dismissed._ "

* * *

Unknown location, Western Forests -

Team RWBY finally emerged from the Gate, though they did not expect to find that the structure was some sort of portal to another realm. Indeed, they had expected to find a miniature dungeon, at the most, but imagine their surprise when after a very long trek through the darkness, it suddenly gave way to harsh, blinding sunlight and a forest of bright green-leaved trees.

Team CFVY was nearby, each team member doing whatever they could during this situation. Velvet was busying herself by inspecting a tree for something, Fox was practicing his fighting technique, rapidly throwing jabs, slashes, and kicks at the air around him. Yatsuhashi was meditating, sitting cross-legged upon a flat boulder, and Coco was on her scroll, an expression of confusion and mild disgust upon her face.

"Hey, Coco," Ruby said, "I would say 'what's the holdup?', but I think I know why you didn't go back in, so instead I'll say, 'what are you doing?' ".

The older girl grimaced and gave her a sideways glare. "Trying to find out where on Remnant we are," she replied, "We probably got turned around while walking through that damn building, which begs the question... Why can't I get a freakin' single bar of reception around here?!"

"Maybe it's just your scroll," said Yang, who activated her own scroll, only to be met with a "no reception" screen. "That's weird..."

The other three girls of RWBY did the same, only to find that their scrolls could not find any service whatsoever, anyway, which was nearly impossible, since the four kingdoms of Remnant had, in recent years, been making great strides in getting CCT access to even impoverished and far-off villages and areas of each continent, in efforts of increasing governmental Public Relations among the people. Plus, it wouldn't really do to have Huntsmen in the field not be able to call for backup in a heated battle. That would look terrible on any kingdom's track record.

"Yeah, the same happened with our scrolls, too." Coco shook her head. "We should probably head back and report this to Ozpin. I'm sure he'll have some answers now that we know what this is."

Everyone gave various grunts and sounds of agreement, but just as they were about to head back through the portal, they heard several screams emanate from inside the darkness. Within seconds, the source of said screams was made apparent when the figures of team JNPR flew through the opening and crashed onto the ground in front of the gate. Needless to say, teams CFVY and RWBY looked at their friends in confusion. Hadn't they told them to stay behind and get help if necessary?

They were ripped from their moments of confusion when a heavy groan sounded from the interior of the gate. A giant pair of stone slabs swung from the inside of the walls, previously hidden in the shadows, and slammed shut, turning a sea of darkness into a stolid marble wall, effectively barring entry back into the Emerald Forest; back into a Remnant that they were familiar with.

The Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training were left stunned by the sudden occurance before them, before instantly springing into action. Weiss drew her rapier, Myrtenaster, in her left hand and moved her right hand in a series of complicated manoeuvres, causing a dark, jet-black glyph to appear right in the middle of the doorway.

Yang immediately understood, and sprinted forward, unfurling her gauntlets into their combat mode, cocked back a fist, priming a shell for firing, and rammed her fist towards the dark glyph, when suddenly a figure ran in front of her fist. She could vaguely hear a voice saying something like "Wait, Yang! Let's think this through!" before she tried to stop herself and slow her attack.

However, the laws of physics, coupled with the black glyph had other plans. Unable to fully stop herself, her strike was sent, albeit with much less power than it would have, into the face of one Jaune Arc, who slammed into the wall face-first.

"Oww..." he groaned before being helped up by Pyrrha, who merely giggled in amusement.

"What are you doing?" Yang demanded, eyes flaring red for a split second, "Don't you want to get back?!"

"As much as any other of you would, Yang," Jaune replied groggily. He shook off his ache before continuing, "But we should think about what we're doing, though. We don't know what this thing is! What if, when you punch it at full force, it creates a black hole that destroys all life in the universe?"

"That doesn't exactly seem likely, Jaune," Pyrrha rebuked.

"Okay, well what if when she punches it, it causes the portal to collapse, stranding us wherever we are?"

"That makes more sense," Pyrrha agreed.

"Look guys, I say we try to head for the nearest civilization. Maybe we can find someone who will know how to open this thing back up - _safely_ \- or at least will be able to point us to the nearest airport, so we can take the next airship back to Vale."

"He's got a point," Ruby agreed, "But first, we gotta find out where the nearest civilization is. By the way, weren't you guys supposed to stay back and call for backup, just in case?"

"Nora wanted to go spelunking, and she ran inside," Ren answered, "I ran in after her, and somehow, the portal pulled us all inside."

"It was weird," Jaune added.

"It was as if gravity itself had turned sideways, and we just fell into the gate," Pyrrha added, more helpfully.

"Oookay then," Ruby said, "Hopefully you guys aren't pulling my leg." She turned to Blake, who being a Faunus, had among the best eyesight of the group. Acting quickly, she had already scaled a nearby tree when Ruby mentioned needing to find the nearest civilization, and was now scanning the horizon. "Blake, you got anything?"

"I'm seeing faint smoke over to the East. Probably a village," she responded.

"Okay guys, we have a place to head to, so let's move it!" Ruby announced, "That means you too, Jaune!" The addressed teen groaned in annoyance, but nonetheless gathered the Dust and supplies he had dropped in the commotion.

The rest of the group moved to start their trek, and with the use of a small compass, began heading East, hopeful in finding someone, anyone, who would be able to help in their predicament.

"I wish we had a car," complained Jaune.

* * *

Alnus Hill, JSDF Special Region Base of Operations -

The fighting had finally died down at Alnus Hill. The fighting, while lasting for weeks, was decidedly one-sided, with about 60,000 enemy casualties, and no Japanese KIA. However, there were a few cases of wounded soldiers where lucky longbow arrows had managed to find their mark among the shrubbery and foliage. The smell of sulfur, smoke, and rotting meat was overpowering, and vultures and carrion birds, numbered in the hundreds, were feasting upon the remains of once-proud Imperial soldiers.

First Lieutenant Itami Youji was currently standing in the Fifth Division command tent. He was surrounded by other soldiers, who were individually doing... something... on their laptop PCs. He couldn't really tell what exactly was going on with them, but he assumed that it was something important. The tent was a drab green, and was a building designed to be set up and torn down rapidly. Thus it was, in essence, a tarp thrown over an aluminum frame.

Itami was currently reporting into his Commanding Officer, who was now giving him his new assignment.

" **So, we've come to the conclusion that we'll need to investigate the people, industries, politics, and economics of this region,** " he stated.

" **An investigation, right? That makes sense,** " Itami replied nonchalantly. He was momentarily taken aback by the CO's stern words not a moment later.

" **I'm not messing around! You're the one going to investigate!** "

" **No way.** "

" **What?** "

" **Don't tell me I'm going alone.** "

" **Now why would I say that? We're going to form six deep reconnaissance teams. You will be in charge of one of them. Make contact with the nearby townspeople in your area and determine their nature. If possible, try to establish a friendly relationship with them.** "

The First Lieutenant scratched his head and sighed. " **Right, I guess.** "

" **Good. First Lieutenant Itami Youji. I hereby grant you command of Recon Team Three.** "

Itami ceased his headscratching, and gave a huff of annoyance. His was going to be a long tour of service, wasn't it.

* * *

Later -

" **Fall in!** "

" **Recon Team Three reporting in!** " announced an older JSDF soldier, Soichiro Kuwahara, Sergeant Major, Age 50. He gave a crisp salute to Itami, who hastily answered with his own.

" **Pops, uh...** " Itami mentally moved along the line of soldiers, being sure to memorize their names and ranks.

Kurata, Sergeant Second Class.

Tomita, Sergeant First Class.

Tozu, Leading Private.

Katsumoto, Sergeant Second Class.

Azuma, Leading Private.

Kuribayashi, Sergeant First Class.

Nishina, Master Sergeant.

Sasakawa, Leading Private.

Furuta, Leading Private.

Kuwabara, Sergeant Major.

Kurokawa, Sergeant First Class.

" **I'm Itami, commander of the Special Region Recon Team Three,** " he said, introducing himself to his new subordinates. " **All because I missed the Yurikamome at Shinbashi that day,** " he muttered to himself, " **And now I'm a squad commander.** "

" **Alright, Let's get going,** " he said, intent on getting this over with. It wasn't like the Doujinshi convention was going to come back if he moped around all day anyway.

" **What's wrong with this guy?** " muttered Kuribayashi to herself, easily picking up on her boss' lazy demeanor, who sighed tiredly.

Soon, the team was mobilizing, and had manned two APCs and one Lightweight Attack Vehicle. They intended to arrive at the nearby Coda Village before sundown. Hopefully, the language booklet that had been assigned to them would help them out with communicating with the locals.

* * *

 **AN: And there's another chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it. It's kind of tough having to juggle so many different languages, but I think I'll manage. I know it probably feels like I'm taking a bunch of liberties with the RWBY characters' circumstances, but please bear with me. Also, you probably noticed the language is different for the Gate characters, and that was because I wanted to make them sound more realistic. Now, I try to make longer chapters, but it's a little tough. I'm keeping them kind of short right now 'cause I'm pressed for time, but that will change during the Summer. Then, I'll be able to cram more story into less chapters.**

 **Also, this is definitely not the last you'll see of Remnant.**

 **Oh, and if you're confused about when this takes place, it's between Volumes 2 and 3 of RWBY.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Hunter63: Dang, sorry, but thanks for the good luck.**

 **Thaqif: Ignoring the insults, this story is completely under my control. What I say goes, and for now, you'll have to wait and see about what I can and can't do. There probably won't be a lot of OCs, but if I do add any, they'll be background characters. Canon pairings and Canon characters only.**

 **Don't forget to read, review, yadda, yadda. Have a good one. Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Bold is for Japanese, _Italics is for the Imperial Language,_** **and regular is English/Valic for RWBY characters.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Gate. Any resemblance or mention to existing properties is part of the fic, a reference, or just something that I thought would be cool to include.**

Chapter 3: Dragons. It's Always Dragons.

The Beacon Huntsmen-in-training had hiked for the better part of the entire day. They had made some ground in their journey towards the smoke, but nevertheless, the forest seemed to be nearly endless. It stretched far into the distance, and the green trees all blended into each other, becoming an expanse that would have been entirely impossible to navigate themselves through, had they not had the combined wilderness survival expertise of Blake, Velvet, Pyrrha, and Yatsuhashi to rely upon.

When twilight finally came, it became necessary to set up some sort of shelter, and soon enough, they had some temporary tents and tarps set up, along with a small campfire.

Ruby Rose found the whole situation very convenient and agreeable. A little _too_ convenient, if you asked her. Never before in her life had anything been _this_ easy; everything had to have some sort of evil dark side lying in wait, ready to pounce on unsuspecting and complacent victims. There had been no Grimm activity, nor any sort of Grimm presence at all. As a Huntress-in-training, Ruby had taken it upon herself to learn how to precisely locate Grimm, as finding them on her and Yang's home island of Patch had sometimes proven difficult, especially due to the island's camouflage.

Despite the fact that more than a few of the group had undoubtedly been feeling some sort of negative emotion, and the fact that they were all students who regularly experienced the _wonders_ of Murphy's Law, there wasn't even the pervasive and oily aura that seemed to follow the creatures of darkness wherever they went.

Regardless, Ruby was tired. Murphy's Law or not, she needed her shut-eye. In fact, everyone else seemed to be just as tired as she was: Yang periodically yawned in between lifting some sort of heavy object or another, Weiss paced relentlessly, and Blake's head was drooping as she tried, somewhat fruitlessly, to read a hardcover novel. Exhausted, Ruby decided to lie back in the hammock that she had constructed in the canopy in order to catch some rest, and stared at the emerging stars, when she noticed something odd...

 _What the heck?_ "Umm... Guys? That doesn't look like Remnant's moon..."

Everyone dropped what they were doing, and turned their attention to the darkened sky.

Yang was the first to speak up. "What. The. Actual. Hell."

"Yeah," that was Jaune, "The last time I checked, our moon was in pieces. You know, shattered and all that? People made, like, a billion songs because of the dang thing."

"So that begs the question," Ren said as he scratched his chin, deep in thought.

"...Why is it not?" Velvet finished, "Broken, I mean."

Sure enough, the moon was one single celestial body, and slightly waxing at that. That meant that this moon had phases, which contrasted with Remnant's, which was in geosynchronous orbit around the planet.

"Guys?" After a long period of saturated silence, Ruby spoke, "I don't think we're in Vale anymore."

"Yeah, no shit." Always the charmer, Coco. Stay classy.

"Well, if we're not in Vale, then where are we?" Nora pondered.

"Wherever we are," replied Blake, "There are dragons."

 _Yeah_ , Ruby thought, _wait, what?_

They looked to the sky, and found that it had been cleaved into two halves. The western half was pitch dark and cloudy, while the eastern portion was lit up brightly with an eerie orange and yellow glow. There was also a faint scent of char and smoke as something burned nearby. Yet that wasn't the strangest part of the scene that lay above.

A titanic blood-red lizard appeared to be the source of the burning, as it spouted flames from its maw while it flew on hideous, leathery wings throughout the night sky. Ruby quickly removed Crescent Rose from its holster and extended it to its rifle mode, using the small scope to observe the monster in greater detail. Its body was horned and spiky because of a multitude of sharp scales that coated its body, lending it an air of a creature from some demented person's nightmare. It soared through the sky, spitting fire upon an unseen target for quite a while.

"Can I ride it?" Nora asked.

"No," came her stoic partner's reply.

"What in God's name is it doing?" Jaune wondered aloud.

"Burning something." All heads present turned to Coco. The fashionista merely adjusted her designer sunglasses higher up onto the bridge of her nose. "I swear, if the blaze spreads to this part of the forest..."

"Wait, w-what if it's burning someone?" Velvet stuttered out. No one uttered a single word.

"No point in worrying about it," replied Weiss, "Whatever's burning right now is too hot to approach." She pinched her nose, unwilling to let any tears fall. "We need to be rested if we want to go investigate."

"We've got to sleep in shifts, then," Blake suggested, "That way, we'll be prepared for that eventuality. We'll investigate in the morning, as much as I had to say it. She paused before adding, "Yang's got the first shift."

"What?! That's unfair!" Yang demanded, indignant. "Why do I have to do it?"

"'Cause you haven't done anything productive at all today. Plus, consider it a thanks for the puns you told all day today."

"If you ask me, that's pretty _shift_ y."

"And that's why you have first shift, sis," Ruby drowsily replied as everyone in earshot groaned in annoyance.

* * *

 **Later -**

It was the afternoon when Ruby and the others had finally awoken from their slumber. The dragon was long gone, and all that remained of whatever had burned was ashes, mixing with the clouds and creating a grey horizon. The group packed up their supplies and hit the road once more, heading in the direction of the blaze from the night before. The trek was shrouded in gloom, and no one spoke. The Huntsmen knew not what lay ahead of them, but they _knew_ nonetheless.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the site that they were looking for.

It was a village. Well, at least it was a village. The structures were all burned husks and char, but they had once been treehouses, huts, and homes built into the very trees of the forest themselves. The only thing left untouched by the flames was a small stone well in the very center of the village. The ground was muddy, evidence that a rain had extinguished the relentless fire that destroyed the village, and stopped it from spreading to the rest of the area.

But what was the most disturbing part of the former habitation was the bodies. Or really, the lack of them. What had once been the inhabitants of the settlement were now foul-smelling, complete, charred black, human skeletons scattered about the place. Sometimes, one of the warriors would trample a femur, creating a sickening crunch as the delicate calcium structure shattered.

There was even a pile of bones next to the well, as if someone had been trying to seek asylum from the wrath of the dragon's combustion, but they were just too late to survive.

Jaune, predictably, ran off to throw up in a nearby ditch. Pyrrha stood stock-still, one gloved hand covering her mouth in horror as tears welled up pin her eyes. Nora leaned on Ren's shoulder, softly sobbing, while the stoic boy stood stock still; the only indication of his true emotions being the subtle aura of seething rage surrounding the young man.

Coco sharply glanced somewhere - anywhere - else from the exhibit of suffering that lay before her, pinching the bridge of her nose and grimacing in disgust. Fox calmly crossed his arms, unwilling to share his true vehemence and rage for the monster that committed such an atrocity. Yatsuhashi sat cross-legged and gave a prayer for the dead. Velvet let her head and rabbit ears fall, letting her own tears for the fallen descend as she stood, trembling, with her hands folded into a tight ball in front of her body.

Blake hissed in a cat-like show of disdain for the fire-breathing dragon. Weiss turned up her nose in distaste, and reached into her pack for a pair of small whetstones. Without a word, the heiress and Faunus both sat down on a particularly flat, large boulder and set to work sharpening their weapons, already confident about what their next course of action would entail.

Yang had the most... energetic reaction out of all the present Huntsmen. shaking in anger, with eyes a bright crimson, she stormed off. The rest of the group soon heard a pair of loud muzzle reports and the crashing of two large objects emanating from the forest nearby.

Her sister, Ruby, turned her gaze to the ground, unwilling to face the horror that lay before her. It reminded her of someone that she had lost many years ago.

Summer Rose was truly someone special, not just to her immediate family, or even just to her friends and teammates. No, she had a lasting impression on nearly everyone she met. From the smallest shopkeeper, to the biggest crime bosses she helped to take down in Vale, her memory stood out in people's minds. For the former, it was her compassion, capacity to help others, and her drive for that which was right. For the latter, it was her combat prowess, her persistence, and her determination to see her missions through.

Ruby was young when her mother died nearly a decade before, but every memory with Summer had once filled the young girl's soul with warmth. But every recollection turned bitter and sorrowful when that source of love and care was forcibly confiscated from her life. For a few whole weeks after her mother's unfortunate disappearance and demise, Ruby shut herself off from the world while her sister lashed out and their father completely emotionally shut down.

Ruby knew what it was like to lose a loved one that you cared for a whole lot. _After all, how different would things have been if Mom was still here..._

 _These people_ , she thought, _were just going throughout their everyday lives when they were killed without a second thought. Whoever's waiting for them elsewhere won't ever see the likes of them again. They would be just like me, left without the dearest people in their lives..._

As Huntsmen, it was their solemn duty to serve the people through being their defenders. But what good would the Huntsmen-in-training of Beacon Academy be if they couldn't even compete in the echelon of danger and cruelty that befell these people?

Ruby tried to hang her head in shame, until a few strange grooves in the mud caught her attention. She abruptly crouched down to the ground, inspecting them.

 _Could it be?_ Ruby thought, _You're kidding. Maybe..._

"Ruby?" Jaune, who had finished expelling his stomach's contents and had returned to the group, wondered. "What are you doing?"

"These tracks..."

"So?" Coco coldly interjected.

"They're not from animals or boots, like we've seen before. These look like they're from some sort of tire treads."

"What, like a car?" Yang scratched her head. She abruptly stopped, however, when the implications hit her like a truck. "Wait, does that mean...?"

"Maybe someone has the resources to get us home," Weiss concluded, "These tracks look like they were made by heavy-duty machines, if the shape and depth of the treads are anything to go by." She turned to the rest of the group. "I say we follow them."

"We'll have to pick up the pace to do so." Yatsuhashi spoke up, uttering the first words that he had spoken since becoming stranded with the rest of the students. "They could be in danger. The monster could have followed them back to wherever they had gone to."

"Alright then, let's go, double-time!" Ruby commanded, determined to stop any further bloodshed and pain before it was too late. _We can't afford to let this trail go dark. We don't even know where the hell we are_ , she thought.

The others were more-or-less like-minded, and quickly mobilized themselves. Soon, they rushed onwards, following the trail before them as quickly as they could, and prayed that they would not be too late.

* * *

 **Imperial Trade Route, en route to Alnus Hill -**

Lieutenant Itami Youji was not having a fun day. Contrary to what he might have thought in the past, being caught in a fantasy world didn't exactly have all the charms that he once imagined it possessed.

There was, first and foremost, a language barrier that had to be remedied between the Japanese and Special Region inhabitants. The Japanese Self-Defense Force was still unable to properly communicate with the locals, but that was to be expected this early into the occupation of the region.

Then there was the matter of the Fire Dragon beast that threatened the tightly-knit existence of Coda Village. Apparently, the existence of that giant lizard monster had been enough to drive the villagers out of their homes without a second thought. It probably would fall to a couple of fighter jets, but then again, what if it wouldn't? What if it became a real problem, instead of a mere nuisance?

Now, the Third Recon Team was stuck pulling escort duty for Coda Village, bringing them to an area that would hopefully be free from giant, fire-breathing dragon attacks.

And finally, there was the matter of the Recon Team's new "passenger". The group of soldiers had somehow managed to attract the attention of someone from the local religion, if the reverence put out by the accompanying Coda Villagers was anything to go by.

Itami was... uncomfortable around Rory Mercury, Apostle of Emloy. And that wasn't just because she decided to make the soldier a cushion the moment she came into contact with the JSDF. Sure, she looked like a cute little girl, with her adorable gothic lolita fashion taste, but she carried a monstrously titanic halberd, for crying out loud! Why would an innocent little girl carry a weapon that large in such a dangerous place without knowing how to use it? Plus, from what he could gather from the nearby village children, she was an apostle of their god of Death and Destruction. Surely that was an omen, right?

At least she wasn't trying to get her hands on anything dangerous like she had been a moment ago, which was a relief. Now she sat in the back of the Humvee, sweetly and innocently smirking as if she was the model of good behavior.

" **Man, I wish this evacuation was over, already,** " Itami complained, way beyond tired of the day's events.

" **No kidding,** " replied Sergeant Kurata, the driver of the Humvee.

 _Damn, why's he so cheery about this?_ Itami thought, _I'm sweltering, and it's tiring work. This sucks..._

Itami sighed and poked his head out of the passenger-side window. He covered his eyes, veiling them from the blistering Special Region sun. " **Isn't the sun hotter here than in Japan?** " he muttered, mostly to himself. He gave a cursory glance towards the tail of the convoy...

Just in time to see a dragon fly past...

Only to be devoured in one bite by a titanic lizard, which touched down on a nearby hill, silhouetted by the sun, shaking the ground ever so slightly upon impact.

 _Holy shit!_

Reacting quickly, Itami turned away from the passenger window, ordering, " **Battlestations!** "

Kurata quickly relayed the order over the radio. The soldiers were, however, powerless to help the villagers in the opening moments of the battle as the dragon mercilessly wrought destruction upon the hapless village-folk, burning and smashing dozens of horse-drawn carriages and people in a matter of seconds. Children attempted to run from the beast, but for some it was too little, too late.

The JSDF sprang into action, speeding towards the monster in their Humvees and APCs, firing their automatic weapons madly in an effort to do something - _anything_ \- to help combat the nightmare beast they called their foe.

* * *

 **Nearby the Imperial Trade Route, within sight of the convoy -**

"Oh. (huff) My. (huff) God." Ruby finally said. "Let's never do that again."

"Yeah."

"Agreed."

"Seriously."

"I swear to God."

It had taken quite a lot of running, but the group managed to catch up to the vehicles that left the tracks. Thankfully, they appeared to have been moving very slowly, allowing the Huntsmen to catch up to the convoy, even if they were on foot, even while their objective had the innovation of the wheel (and internal combustion engines) to rely on.

Halfway to their current location, they'd discovered an abandoned settlement, devoid of all life. There was no lack of possessions, however, as evidenced by various articles of clothing, valuables, and chaotic houses that were scattered about the town. There was even a broken-down wooden carriage in the middle of the town square with a shattered axle. All of the signs pointed to the fact that everyone who had lived in the town had got up and left. They'd probably heard of what happened to the other village and evacuated, hoping to escape the dragon's wrath and bloodlust.

But given the fact that they had been escaping with horse-drawn carts and beasts of burden, as evidenced by the hoofprints in the dirt and the corpse of a horse that remained, they may have been too slow to avoid the destruction that befell their neighboring village. In response, the Beacon teams had picked up the pace even more than they were already. They were relieved, however, when they had arrived, a fair distance away, and the convoy was still intact, allowing the weary Huntsmen a respite from their marathon trek across the countryside.

Now, they were all bone-tired, and lounged around in various places, in various positions, trying to catch their breaths. No one was really in a state of being able to converse, and stayed silent, only uttering sounds of panting and wheezing. Most of them had even closed their eyes, content with maybe taking a nap for their troubles.

But that pleasant reality was stripped from their minds the moment the screaming started.

At the sound of frightened shrieks, Ruby jolted herself awake. Her eyes quickly scanned the environment for any and all threats and causes, looking for the source of the disturbance.

She didn't have to look very far.

Razing the caravan of wooden carts with a veritable torrent of flame was the very beast that they'd come all this way for. The gigantic dragon, covered with titanic, spiked scales, hovered over the group of primitive vehicles via the flapping of its massive filmy, reptilian wings. Each beat of its wings threatened to flatten even the unburned wild grasses of the clearing, and would probably make it harder to maintain mobility up close. It crushed with its gargantuan, three-pronged feet and claws, and killed without abandon, spitting flame at any moving target within its reach.

"Blake! Yang! Weiss! We gotta go! Double-time it!" Ruby was quick to jump into action, withdrawing Crescent Rose and firing a shot behind her to help her accelerate, before activating her semblance, rushing off to the nearest, highest vantage point in a flurry of crimson rose petals.

"Come on, ladies, let's move!" Yang quickly fired both of her gauntlets, Ember Celica, at the ground and at an angle, quickly propelling her towards the direction that Ruby had sped off in. Blake wordlessly drew Gambol Shroud, shifted it into its kusarigama form, and chucked it to the blonde boxer with all of her might, as it trailed her trademark black ribbon behind it. Yang caught it with one hand, shooting off another blast with her off hand, simultaneously pulling on Blake's weapon, pulling the Faunus along just with the force of her gauntlets and her strength.

"Of all the things that could happen..." Weiss grumbled, but nonetheless cast a time-manipulation glyph on herself and sped along after her team with a long string of both dark and white attraction and repulsion glyphs.

* * *

 **Nearby vantage point - Tall, nearby hill -**

Ruby Rose felt the wind rush by her face at a million miles an hour. To say that she didn't enjoy the rush of feeling everything move by at a snail's pace when she let loose with her semblance would be like saying a begger needn't money. It would be just plain wrong.

Ruby's semblance, besides accelerating her physical acceleration, also increased how quickly her mind could process her surroundings, as without it she would run into more walls than an anthropomorphic pitcher of soft drink. Noticing that she was nearing her destination, she hopped up and slammed her boots forward, skidding for a good five whole seconds, producing a sound not unlike shredding rubber.

Ruby pinwheeled her slender arms for an instant, avoiding losing her balance and falling off of the steep hill. She unhooked Crescent Rose and, with a couple flicks of the wrist, unfurled it into its sniper rifle form. She brought the firearm into a shooting position, its crimson stock folded into the crook of her shoulder, and peered through its powerful compact scope. Through its magnifying glass, she could clearly see that the monster was being engaged by a trio of military-style vehicles. Which military, she couldn't say. It had been decades since any modern Remnan military had even considered using camouflage paint on anything, a sentiment expressed soon after the long, arduous civil war over individuality fought some 40 years ago.

The vehicles' occupants were using rifles and various small arms against the beast, to virtually no avail. The beast traded lead for flame, and tried to douse the metal transports with combustive death, but thankfully the soldiers avoided the hungry blaze with skillful maneuvers. It was apparent, however, that they weren't going to stand a chance for very longn if they couldn't pull out their trump card very soon. They were going all in, but the deck was stacked against them from the beginning.

 _Those guys need help_ , Ruby thought. _Hmm... If Weiss uses her glyphs, and we use Blake's chain-scythe as a sling, we could probably get me close enough to hack at it... I did spy a few sturdy trees when I ran here... Hmm..._

"Really, Ruby? You couldn't wait like _two seconds_ for us to follow you?"

"Sorry, Yang," Ruby replied unflinchingly, her eye still fixed upon the unknown soldiers through her scope. "You're just too slow."

"That hurts, Sis,"said Yang, a mischievous glint in her eye, "We did run all this way after you. It hurt my _sole_ for you to say that about me."

Yang sensed something coming from behind her, and turned to catch the lightly tossed over form of Gambol Shroud with her hand, as it flew towards her head in its kusarigama form.

Blake flew through the air behind her, propelled by the sheer force of Yang's propulsory throws, and had tucked into a roll before stopping and quipping, "That was bad, Yang. Even for you."

"Getting _catty_ with me, now, pardner?" Yang joshed back.

"Those... (huff) are terrible..." Weiss had finally, on her last legs, made it to the hill. She wheezed and groaned for oxygen, and her bolero jacket's armpits were soaked with sweat. How she managed to keep her hair from bunching up, was however, something that Ruby never knew.

"You're here!" Ruby excitedly proclaimed, "Now, we can get to work! You guys remember what we did for Beacon Initiation, right?"

"Duh, you dunce," Weiss snarked. "Still a stupid idea, if you ask me."

* * *

 **Imperial Trade Route, Battle Zone -**

Itami felt himself being jostled around in the military humvee, and his teeth rattled in the mattress of his gums to no end. He felt as if his canines might actually start Olympic high-diving right out of his mouth if this kept going for a picosecond longer.

But yet, he still had to try. The Fire Dragon was going to be a big problem if it was allowed to keep eating and pillaging things. An invincible monster that only attacks when confronted? Not a big threat. But a mobile aggressor? Shit, that was going to need to be taken care of, and disposed of before it could massacre more innocents (than it had already).

Itami's aim was thrown a little off as he tried to fire his Type 64 Rifle, but he managed to at least hit his intended target, more or less. However, it proved to be mildly useless. The thing's scales were as hard as diamond. Every bullet just ricocheted off of the hardened skin and plates or just shattered upon impact.

" **Pay it no mind!** " Itami shouted over the noise of muzzle reports, " **Keep firing! Fire! Fire! Fire!** "

In response to the renewed volume of fire, the dragon reared its great maw back, its teeth aglow with a backlight of orange.

Itami gasped, " **Breath incoming!** " he warned, just in time for the beast to whip its head forward, spewing a renewed blast of flame at the JSDF vehicles, who managed to dodge it, just barely. Itami himself could feel his eyebrows and stubble become singed slightly, as a result of the incredible heat.

" **We don't stand a chance against that flame!** " yelled Kurata.

" **Our .50-Cals aren't even cutting it, either!** " responded Itami.

 _This fight is thoroughly unfair_ , Itami thought, _We can't do anything to it! What do we do?_

Suddenly, Itami heard the pitter-patter of flesh against steel. He glanced into the rear of the vehicle, just in time to see the blonde elf from the well emerge from her resting position in the back. She... wasn't wearing anything.

" **Uhh... Since when are you...?** " Itami started, but the girl cut him off. She said something in the native language, and frantically pointed at...

Her eye?

The eye...

 _God, how could I be so stupid?_ Itami mentally berated himself. He leaned his head out of the window, taking one last look at the creature.

" **All units, aim for the-** "

Itami was interrupted by a sudden and large explosion nearby. He swiveled his head in the relative direction of the noise, and saw a blur fly towards the dragon, trailing some sort of series of red objects, which floated down to the ground lazily. The blur sped towards the monster, and finally collided with the beast's long neck. Even from here, Itami could see dark, crimson blood spurt from the wound the blur made.

But it still wasn't done. The shape pinwheeled and rotated as if it was a windmill, opening up more and more incisions along the dragon's body to the tempo of more explosions, though muffled this time.

The dragon wasn't having any of that, however, as it soon moved one of its great claws to swipe at the offending blur-

Only to be forced to use it as a shield as more bullets impacted its body. Itami heard another muzzle report, this time a sustained racket. He craned his neck towards the source, and found not one of those under his command firing, but-

A female civilian, wearing a black beret and sunglasses, bearing bandoliers of cartridges as scarves, and wielding a golden... chain gun? Where in the world did someone like her get something like that around here?

" **Boss!** " came the cry of Kuribayashi, wrought with urgency, over the radio. " **What do we aim for?** "

Itami shook his head to clear his mind of the distractions. He couldn't afford to lose his head during a situation like this, of all times. He swiftly snatched up the radio receiver and practically screamed into it. " **Eyes! Go for the eyes! No time to waste!** " Itami huffed out.

" **Roger!** " came his squad's affirmation, just as swiftly as he had ordered it.

* * *

 **A few moments earlier -**

Ruby Rose could _feel_ the thrum of Gambol Shroud's ribbon propelling her through the air, contracting back into its resting shape with as much elasticity as ever, maximizing the force of not only Weiss' attraction glyphs, but also Crescent Rose's heavy recoil. Ruby once again flew at break-neck speeds, and once again relished the feel of air rushing past her face, as if she was an addict getting a fix. Not that she would know anything about that, of course.

As she neared her destination, she flipped a hidden lever on her weapon, further unraveling it into its extended form, with the long, curved blade sticking out of the shaft at an angle nearly parallel to the rest of the weapon. It was perfectly prepared to hook into and cleave through her target: the dragon's neck. With a scrape and a sickening squelch of blade digging into flesh, the crimson blade of Crescent Rose pierced the rough skin of the beast.

Ruby followed it up with a pull of her beloved weapon's trigger, unleashing a powerful round upwards. She twisted her hips and pulled on her scythe with all of her might, and the disproportionately large gun-blade hybrid complied by slicing into the flesh of the monster in a circular arc. An iron and copper stench filled Ruby's nostrils as the young reaper's deadly weapon forced open the skin and muscle under the rock-hard scales and caused a dull, red fluid to come spurting out of the wounds she inflicted. Blood. Ruby found the creature's life's essence truly disgusting. She gritted her teeth and focused on her task at hand.

Ruby quickly flared up her semblance and cycled Crescent Rose's bolt-action, chambering a new round to fire. At the critical angle of her rotation down the dragon's flesh, she fired again, this time lodging a bullet in the middle of the wound as well as propelling her to her next arc. She repeated the process of her crescendo of pain as a robot, mechanically ejecting and chambering spent and fresh Dust bullets and pulling her body along, spiraling down the solid armor and body of the beast.

The monster was, however, not happy at all to see this series of event unfold. It raised a great claw to halt the crimson reaper's assault...

Only to be stopped by a steady stream of fresh Dust-based projectiles. The monster was utterly forced to yield its claw, not for offense, but for defense in order to block the small, irritating, stinging bullets coming its way.

Ruby spared the briefest of glimpses in the direction of the incoming volume of fire, and witnessed Coco Adel firing away at the demonic dragon with her chain-gun. Her short, auburn hair was tousled and untidy, and her carefully picked out clothes were torn and dirtied in a few spots. She didn't seem to care, though, as she fired away at the monster with everything she had.

Ruby silently thanked her, and finally finished up the last two rotations of her pinwheel of pain for the dragon, finally landing on her feet on the cracked and pulverized dirt below.

 _The dragon's smart, I'll give it that_ , she thought to herself as she noticed that it had ceased to try to claw at Ruby and now began the motions of stamping its feet in order to squash the human Huntress. Ruby fired a quick shot of Crescent Rose's titanic ammunition behind her. With a quick followed-through burst of her semblance, she accelerated past the stomping range of the monster. Now, she stood about twenty meters to the left of Coco.

Ruby performed an about-face, turning herself to stare her adversary straight in the eye. She anchored her scythe in the ground to destroy any leftover velocity and attempted to gain her bearings-

Just in time to glimpse Blake speeding downwards from the hillside, twirling a bright yellow flame at the end of her elongated elastic ribbon. Yang. Like a wrecking machine, the dark-haired girl brought her meteor of a partner in a counterclockwise circle. Yang finally punched into the monster, both literally and figuratively, letting loose a blow that even managed to stagger the beast. Both girls hit the ground running, and quickly caught up to their leader in the dragon's moment of vulnerability.

Ruby gave a cursory glance around her. _Where was Weiss?_

A small, but explosive dust blast answered her question. It burst against the dragon's hide, further stumbling it and distracting it from its real enemy, who floated daintily down to the side of her partner, her fall dampened by one of her signature glyphs.

"What do you plan to do now?" Weiss asked, reloading Myrtenaster, her rapier, with more vials of dust. She preferred to travel light, and would doubtless have only so much of a supply of the stuff for the battle ahead. Not ideal, but Ruby could work with it.

"Yeah, what's the plan?" Yang's gauntlets as of yet needed no replenishment, but that might be something soon to change, especially with a foe the likes of which Team RWBY had never laid eyes upon till now.

"Well, it's definitely tougher than the Nevermore," Blake hadn't fired more than a handful of bullets yet, so she was sitting pretty, unlike the rest of her team. Gambol Shroud had a spacious magazine, and Ruby felt that it was going to be necessary to make every shot count if they were going to make it out alive.

"We can't stop now," finally replied Ruby. She hammered Crescent Rose's box magazine out of its housing and stowed it away for now. The less reloads she would need to take, the better. The reaper reached a hand to her hip, withdrew her secondary Dust ammunition magazine, and slammed it into Crescent Rose's magwell. "We'll probably have to wing it. But! I do have something resembling a plan. Weiss! Blake! Checkmate on its legs!"

* * *

 **AN: And that's another chapter up! Damn, finals month was crazy. Couldn't get any shit done. Also, trying to lengthen my work as of late. Harder than it looks, though. Hope you enjoy, see ya.**

 **Guest: English and Valic are the same, just one came from Remnant, and the other Earth.**

 **AllenFierte: Oh, they're definitely not ready for war. Sure, they can kick ass, but as for how they'll react? Well that all depends on circumstance, really. Most stories kinda work that way. For example, if you desensitized, say, Ruby Rose to the violence, she could react with a poker face to any and all conflict, but if you had her straight from Signal Academy, something in there is gonna snap like a freaking twig.**

 **BUND3SW3HR: Funny, I don't remember any German guy...**

 **edboy4926: Well you'll have to wait to see. Someone will be boned though. Figuratively, not literally.**

 **yesboss21: Dude. I totally didn't think about how Rory and Ruby would interact until you posted your review. I am totally going to have a moment with them. Thanks.**


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